(USA TODAY) Esquire mag went to the Playboy Mansion to check in on Hugh Hefner, now 87, but otherwise stuck in a time warp of tradition.

Silk pajamas, movie nights, chicken soup, two cranes in the backyard, a room full of scrapbooks ... It's the quiet side of Hef's life we see as the man himself battles hip pain, bad ears and two infected tooth extractions in the April issue interview.

While the story gives the feel of an end of an era, Hefner sounds chipper, especially when talking about a favorite topic - women.

Some highlights:

On how many women he's been with: "How could I possibly know? Over a thousand, I'm sure. There were chunks of my life when I was married, and when I was married I never cheated. But I made up for it when I wasn't married. You have to keep your hand in."

On his current marriage to Crystal Harris: "All our friends think it's made in heaven. It's only people who don't know us, who simply see us as stereotypes in terms of age and beauty ... I just feel very, very fortunate to have found her at this stage in my life. I saved the best till last."

On the life he's lived: "You can't live somebody else's life. As big as my dreams were they certainly didn't begin to match what came to pass. Who could have imagined a life like this before the fact?"

And as for his future: "I want the rest of my life to be very much like it is now. I want it to be like this."